Anxiety disorders are among the ten most important public health concerns, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and, in recent years, reached epidemic proportions. According to the American National Institute of Mental Health statistics, anxiety disorders affect up to 19 million North American adults. Results from the Israel National Health Survey indicate that 17% of adult population in Israel reported a lifetime occurrence of a mood or anxiety disorder.
Current treatments for anxiety disorders are of limited efficacy in a considerable proportion of patients and are associated with many side-effects (Wong & Licinio, 2004). Benzodiazepines, which act by increasing the inhibitory actions of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), are an effective treatment for anxiety disorders, but have a major problem. These agents are prescribed for short periods only to avoid developing tolerance and physical dependence. However, the chronic nature of anxiety disorders requires long-term treatment. This problem prompted research to assess the efficacy of other agents (Barbui & Cipriani, 2009).
It has been demonstrated that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, SSRIs (such as Fluoxetine, Citalopram, Paroxetine), are effective in treating a wide spectrum of anxiety disorders, and may be used as a chronic treatment. However, recent studies show that their success rates for treating anxiety disorders are not high, reaching 50% at most (Pelissolo, 2008). In addition, despite their therapeutic actions, SSRIs are also associated with a wide variety of side effects such as sexual dysfunction, weight changes, insomnia, drowsiness or sedation, agitation, fatigue, dry mouth, gastrointestinal disturbances, and headache (Dording et al., 2002).
A traditional Chinese compound commonly known as “Gan Mai Da Zao Tang” containing Chinese date, wheat grains and licorice root (gan cao) was found by modern pharmacological researches to have sedative and soporific effects, combat fright, relax smooth muscle contractions, and regulate the autonomic nervous system. This compound was found to have a therapeutic effect when treating patients with anxiety disorders (Qin Zhu et al., 2003).
In light of the evidence reviewed above, the need for an anxiety-specific as well as side-effect-free drug is evident.